Infants are required to be fed very frequently with a small amount of milk such as breast milk or infant formula, and therefore many clean bottles shall be needed. In order to minimize a chance that a baby can be infected by bacteria, the bottle shall be washed and sterilized with boiling water or steam before it is used. Such activities of washing and sterilizing bottles are extra work for parents who are already tired and do not have enough sleep. Therefore, it is advantage to have a bottle or container that is pre-sterilized before use and can be disposed after use. Preparing, storing, and serving liquid food or perishable beverages in a most convenient way that shall free the parents from washing and sterilizing baby bottles is the main focus of this invention.
A disposable baby feeding bottle for babies was described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,630 to Hair. In the Hair patent, a nursing assembly incorporating a disposable paper container is disclosed for feeding a baby during the traveling. The container is thrown away after each feeding. Thus, eliminating the need to wash and sterilize an used bottle. Nevertheless, this nursing assembly suffers a number of shortcomings. First, the nipple and the flange portion of the bottle are engaged together to form a seal by the interlocking of upper and lower brackets. When an excess force is applied by the brackets and the flange portion which may have already be softened by the infant formula contained therein, the flange portion of the bottle will be torn, ripped or distorted from a circular shape. When this disengagement or misalignment between the nipple and the flange portion occurred, a leakage will result. Second, when manipulating or holding the nursing assembly at the bottle with an excess force, the flange portion of the bottle can be torn or ripped. Thus, leakage will occur. Third, the nipple in the nursing assembly described in the Hair patent has a tailored design to form a seal with the flange portion of the bottle. This limits the use of the disposable bottle to only the described nursing assembly.
A nursing assembly for infant incorporating a disposable cup was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,787 to Sheu. In the Sheu patent, a special collar socket with a skirt portion is required to secure a paper cup to the nursing assembly. The Sheu patent claimed improvements over the Hair patent described above. Nevertheless, in this design, it can be concluded with the following defects and which shall be solved sooner or later. First, the collar socket with a skirt portion is contact with an infant formula when it is used in the nursing assembly. Therefore, it is an extra part that needs to be washed and sterilized before it is used. It defeats a purpose of using a paper cup as container. Second, when manipulating, holding or accidentally step on the nursing assembly by the bottle with an excess force, the cup can be crumbled or ripped. Thus, leakage will occur.
A nursing assembly for infant incorporate a disposable plastic container was described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,781 to Marco. In the Marco patent, a plastic container which has thin and flexible body portion and thicker and less flexible rim portion is used as a disposable container for a nursing assembly. Similar disposable plastic containers can be found in the market manufactured by Playtex Products, Inc. of Dover, Del. The Playtex bottle consists of a cylindrical holder, in which a plastic liner bag is placed and filled with liquid food. In one variant, the plastic liner top is stretched over the top of the holder. In another variant, the plastic liner bag is provided with a semi-rigid rim around the top of to facilitate installation of the bag in just on hand. In either case, it requires parents to prepare infant formula in a separate container and let that cools down before transferring the formula to the plastic liner bag. Furthermore, these plastic liner bags should not be heated up in a microwave. Therefore, it is not convenient for parents.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a disposable container suitable for preparing, short-term storing and feeding of liquid food such as infant formula directly from a single container to minimize the possibility of contamination of the contents and maximizing the usefulness and convenience of the container for parents. Further, there is a need in the art to make a container which can be disposable and affordable.